Predictably, Greta Gerwig's Barbie is as brilliant and fulfilling as we all hoped, with Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling's portrayal of Barbie and Ken making us smile from ear-to-ear. But there was one scene that really struck a nerve: the monologue that America Ferrera's Mattel employee Gloria delivers.
The actor plays the only female employee at the toy company, and is also mother to a teenage daughter named Sasha, played by Ariana Greenblatt. When Margot Robbie's Barbie is having an existential crisis of confidence in who she is and what she's about, Gloria gives a poignant speech about how hard it is to be a woman, highlighting many of the double standards women face in a patriarchal society.
The moment really struck a nerve with viewers, and you can read it in full here:
"It is literally impossible to be a woman. You are so beautiful, and so smart, and it kills me that you don't think you're good enough. Like, we have to always be extraordinary, but somehow we're always doing it wrong.
"You have to be thin, but not too thin. And you can never say you want to be thin. You have to say you want to be healthy, but also you have to be thin. You have to have money, but you can't ask for money because that's crass. You have to be a boss, but you can't be mean. You have to lead, but you can't squash other people's ideas. You're supposed to love being a mother, but don't talk about your kids all the damn time. You have to be a career woman but also always be looking out for other people. You have to answer for men's bad behaviour, which is insane, but if you point that our, you're accused of complaining. You're supposed to stay pretty for men, but not so pretty that you tempt them too much or that you threaten other women because you're supposed to be a part of the sisterhood.
"But always stand out and always be grateful. But never forget that the system is rigged. So find a way to acknowledge that but also always be grateful. You have to never get old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never fall down, never fail, never show fear, never get out of line. It's too hard! It's too contradictory and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you! And it turns out in fact that not only are you doing everything wrong, but also everything is your fault.
"I'm just so tired of watching myself and every single other woman tie herself into knots so that people will like us. And if all of that is also true for a doll just representing women, then I don't even know."
Speaking about the monologue, America said it took between 30 and 50 takes to film. “It felt like 500 [takes],” she told Vanity Fair. “I’m sure it wasn’t. It was probably 30 to 50 full runs of it, top to bottom. By the end, [co-star Ariana Greenblatt] recited the monologue to me because she had memorised it because that’s how many times I had said it.”
We kind of want to read that every day tbh.
The Barbie movie is in cinemas now.
